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Bright is the earth when thou risest in the horizon,
When thou shinest as Aton by day.
The darkness is banished, when thou sendest forth thy rays.
How manifold are all thy works,
They are hidden from before us,
O thou sole god, whose powers no other possesseth,
Thou didst create the earth according to thy desire
While thou wast alone.
The world is in thy hand,
Even as thou hast made them.
When thou hast risen, they live.
When thou settest, they die.
For thou art duration, beyond thy mere limbs.
By thee man liveth,
And their eyes look upon thy beauty
Until thou settest.
Thou makest the beauty of form. . . .
Thou art in my heart.
The revolution in art which was inaugurated under Amenhotep III is a marked feature of Akhenaton's reign.
When sculptors and painters depicted the king he posed naturally, leaning on his staff with crossed legs, or
accompanied by his queen and children. Some of the decorative work at Tell-el-Amarna will stand
comparison with the finest productions of to-day.
The records which survive to us of the Akhenaton period are very scanty, for when the priests of the old faith
again came to power they were at pains to obliterate them. Queen Tiy does not appear to have taken a
prominent part in the new movement, which had developed beyond her expectations; and although she
occasionally visited the city of Aton, her preference for Thebes, the scene of her social triumphs, remained to
the end. Akhenaton's wife was a queen consort, as Tiy had been, and the royal couple delighted to appear
among the people accompanied by their children.
The fall of the Amon party was complete. For several years the eight temples of Amon at Thebes lay empty
and silent; their endowments had been confiscated for Aton, to whom new temples were erected in the Fayum
and at Memphis, Heliopolis, Hermonthis, and Hermopolis.An endeavour was made to enforce the worship of
Aton by royal decree all over Egypt, with the result that the great mass of the people, who appear to have
shown little concern regarding the fall of the tyrannical Amon party, were aroused to oppose with feelings of
resentment an uncalled-for interference with the immemorial folk customs and beliefs which were so closely
associated with their habits of life. But still the power of the "heretic king" remained supreme. The army
remained loyal, although it had shrunk to an insignificant force, and when Akhenaton placed in command
CHAPTER XXVI. The Religious Revolt of the Poet King 159
EGYPTIAN MYTH AND LEGEND
Horemheb it appears to have effectively controlled the disturbed areas.
Akhenaton died while still a young man, and left no son to succeed him. Semenkh-ka-ra, who had married a
princess, became the next Pharaoh, but he appears to have been deposed by another son-in-law of the
"heretic", named Tutenk-aton, who returned to Thebes, allied himself with the priests, and called himself
Tutenkamon, "Image of Amon". He was followed in turn by Ai (Eye), who called himself "Divine Father"
and then a military revolt, instigated by the priests, brought to the throne, after a brief period of anarchy,
Horemheb, who secured his position by marrying a princess of the royal line. He popularized himself with the
worshippers of the ancient cults by ruthlessly persecuting the adherents of the religion of Akhenaton, erasing
the name of Aton everywhere. He appears to have re-established the power of Egypt over a part of Palestine,
and he restored order in the kingdom. So the Eighteenth Dynasty came to an end about two and a half
centuries after the expulsion of the Hyksos.
CHAPTER XXVII. The Empire of Rameses and the Homeric Age
Sectarian Rivalries Struggles for Political Ascendancy New Theology The Dragon Slayer Links between
Sutekh, Horus, Sigurd, Siegfried, Finn-mac-Coul, Dietrich, and Hercules Rameses I and the
Hittites Break-up of Mitanni Empire Seti's Conquests Wars of Rameses II Treaty with the
Hittites Pharaoh's Sublime Vanity Sea Raids by Europeans on Egypt The Last Strong Pharaoh The Great
Trojan War.
THE Nineteenth Dynasty opens with Rameses I, but no record survives to throw light on his origin, or the
political movement which brought him to the throne. He was an elderly man, and does not appear to have
been related to Horemheb. When he had reigned for about two years his son Seti was appointed co-regent.
But although history is silent regarding the intrigues of this period, its silence is eloquent. As the king's throne
name indicates, he was attached to the cult of Ra, and it is of significance to note that among his other names
there is no recognition of Amon.
The history of Egypt is the history of its religion. Its destinies were controlled by its religious cults and by the
sects within the cults. Although Ra was fused with Amon, there are indications that rivalries existed not only
between Heliopolis and Thebes, but also between the sects in Thebes, where several temples were dedicated
to the national god. The theological system which evolved from the beliefs associated with Amon, the old
aslunar deity, must have presented many points of difference to those which emanated from Heliopolis, the
home of scholars and speculative thinkers. During the Eighteenth Dynasty the priesthood was divided into
two great parties: one supported the claims of Queen Hatshepsut, while the other espoused the cause of
Thothmes III. It may be that the queen was favoured by the Ra section of the Amon-ra cult, and that her rival
was the chosen of the Amon section. The Thothmes III party retained its political ascendancy until Thothmes
IV, who worshipped Ra Harmachis, was placed upon the throne, although not the crown prince. It is possible
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